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6 Leaders of Tomorrow! MARCH 1998 MBC Wolverine OBSERVER
CAMPUS ORGANIZATIONS
Morris Brown College TRIO Program
The Morris Brown College TRIO Programs participate in the1998 King March. (Far left, Mr. Chuck Barlow,
Morris Brown College Alumni President; far right, Mr. Marvin King, TRIO Director.
T
he Morris Brown College TRIO
Programs participated on January
19th in the 1998 King March. Each
year, Mr. Marvin King, the TRIO
Director, purposely involves the TRIO
students to give them a greater appre
ciation of how the contributions of
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. directly
affect theirs lives. A total of 124 stu
dents, parents, staff, and supporters,
namely, Mr. Chuck Barlow, the MBC
Alumni President, enjoyed a day of
appreciation and tribute.
The theme for the 1998 King Fes
tivities, “A Day On—Not a Day Off’,
was a very fitting description of the
day. Even though the schools were
officially closed in celebration of the
King Holiday, the TRIO students sac
rificed their holiday to participate in
this symbolic and historic event. Also
the 1998 theme appropriately sum
marizes the great investment that
TRIO students make every Saturday
as they participate faithfully in the
four MBC TRIO Programs designed
to prepare high school students to
pursue post-secondary education:
Atlanta Upward Bound (since 1966),
Taliaferro County Consortium
Upward Bound (since 1995),
Math-Science Upward Bound (since
1996) and the Educational Talent
Search Program (since 1986). The
students wisely choose to improve
their skills instead of spending their
day off in wasteful ways. The three
participants of the college-level TRIO
Program, Student Support Services
(1970), served as monitors along with
the parents and staff. After the King
March, the entire TRIO group went to
dinner at Ryan’s Restaurant for a
well-deserved, delicious meal.
The next march MBC TRIO Pro
grams participated in was held on
February 28. Because Morris Brown
College was the host school for this
year’s Georgia TRIO Day and Mr.
Marvin King served as the 1998
Georgia TRIO Day Chairman, the
march convened at Morris Brown
College before proceeding to the State
Capitol. In Celebration of TRIO Day,
a national celebration honoring the
1965 estabhshment and continuance
of government-funded educational
programs for disadvantaged students,
The MBC TRIO Programs, joined by
the fifty-one TRIO Programs of the
state of Georgia, participated in a day
at the State Capitol that consisted of
featured speakers, special local, state,
and national guests, educational
challenges, and highlights from
TRIO students.
The National TRIO Day focuses
the nation’s attention on the needs
of disadvantaged young people and
adults aspiring to improve their fives.
Once again, MBC TRIO students,
parents, staff, and TRIO supporters
enjoyed a rewarding day of apprecia
tion. Whether marching in tribute to
the accomplishments of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. or marching in
appreciation for the opportunities
afforded them by TRIO Programs,
the students gain immeasurably.
1998 Symposium News Flash
Black Religion and Sexuality
By Ronald Neal
n Friday April 3, 1998 Theta
Phi will host its annual Spring
Symposium. The theme for this
year’s symposium is “Black Religion
and Sexuality.” The objective of the
symposium, on “Black Religion and
Sexuality,” is to help break the silence
among African American religious
persons concerning the taboo subjects
of sex and sexuality. It is essentially
an attempt to create a forum wherein
individuals may engage such issues
through critical dialogue. The days
are far gone when the African Ameri
can Church or religious community
can avoid the issue of sex and sexual
ity. With increasing numbers of pre-
teen and teenage mothers, organized
social and political movements among
homosexuals and lesbians, and the
cross-generation spread of HIV/ AIDS
among heterosexuals and homo
sexuals, the issues of sex and sexual
ity begs for our attention.
The symposium will attempt to ad
dress these issues in a three fold man
ner. First, the claims which Biblical
texts make concerning sex and sexu
ality and the plausibility of such
claims for sexual ethics will be explor
ed in a session entitled, “Sexuality
and Scripture.” Second, in fight of the
HIV/AIDS crisis, the attitudes and
behaviors among African Americans
will be explored in a session entitled,
“Let’s Talk About Sex: Sexual
Honesty in the Era of HIV/AIDS.”
Lastly, contemporary themes of sex
uality as expressed in African Ameri
can film will be explored theologically
in a session entitled. “Contemporary
Expressions of African American Sex
uality Through the Genre of Black
Film.”
The symposium participants in
clude ITC's very own: Drs. Randall C.
Bailey (Hebrew Bible), Riggins R.
Earl, Jr. (Social Ethics) and Prof. Ann
H. Redding (New Testament). Dr.
June Dobbs Butts, a trained sex ther
apist, from Morehouse College will
also be participating. It is with these
persons and the objectives outlined
that the symposium on “Black
Religion and Black Sexuality” seeks to
promote dialogue on the issues of sex
and sexuality. Theta Phi is extremely
excited about the symposium and we
anticipate a provocative day of events
on April 3, 1998. This is an event
which is not only important for Theta
Phi, but for ITC as well. We are solic
iting the support of the entire ITC
family in making it a success and we
look forward to seeing you in April.
The Jewel Newsletter, Vol. 7-Issue 2 1998
Brenda P. Wallace, Editor